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A Novel Biomarker for the Detection of Esophageal Adenocarcinoma
Z. Hammoud, S. Badve, R. Saxena, K. Kesler, K. Rieger, L. Malkas, R. Hickey. Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN,
Objective: Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) is a component of the DNA synthesome and functions in DNA replication and repair. Our group has recently identified an acidic isoform of PCNA, termed cancer specific PCNA (csPCNA), that appears to be present only in malignant tissue. We sought to determine the presence of csPCNA in esophageal dysplasias and invasive adenocarcinomas in order to assess the potential utility of csPCNA to identify malignancy.
Methods: Using a polyclonal antibody to csPCNA, immunohistochemistry (IHC) was performed on a total of 30 cases of Barrett’s esophagus (BE) with varying degrees of dysplasia and 18 cases of invasive adenocarcinoma. As control, IHC for csPCNA was performed on normal esophageal tissue and, using a commercially available antibody, IHC for PCNA was performed on all specimens.
Results: Of the BE cases, 14 showed no dysplasia, 8 showed low grade dysplasia, and 8 showed high grade dysplasia. None of these cases was positive for csPCNA. Of the 18 adenocarcinoma cases, all were positive for csPCNA. There was no significant csPCNA expression in normal esophageal tissue and PCNA expression was noted to a high degree in all tissues.
Conclusions: csPCNA demonstrates high specificity for esophageal adenocarcinoma. This novel biomarker may prove useful in differentiating invasive cancer from high grade dysplasia. csPCNA also holds future promise as a serum biomarker for esophageal adenocarcinoma.
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